Elementary Schools in Wethersfield School District

The Wethersfield School District contains five elementary schools—Highcrest School, Emerson-Williams School, Samuel B. Webb Elementary School, Alfred W. Hanmer School, and Charles Wright School—serving grades PK–6 and enrolling a combined 1,694 students in the Hartford-area town of Wethersfield. While the district ranks 87th of 153 Connecticut districts overall, the individual schools vary meaningfully, with state rankings ranging from the 50th to the 72nd percentile. One thing they all share is exceptional attendance: chronic absenteeism runs between 3.6% and 5.6% at every school, far below the state average of 16.4%.

Highcrest School is the clear academic leader, earning the district's best 2025–2026 ranking (139th of 491 schools) with average ELA proficiency of 70.0% and math proficiency of 66.8%, and it also has the lowest free/reduced lunch rate (18.88%). Alfred W. Hanmer School is a strong upper-grade standout, posting the highest 4th-grade ELA (81.1%) and math (79.2%) scores in the district and excellent 5th-grade science (74.4%), all while serving a student body with a 33.57% free/reduced lunch rate and maintaining the smallest student-teacher ratio (10.7). Samuel B. Webb Elementary School is the most improved, climbing from the 45th to the 59th percentile in one year, and it tied for the district's best 5th-grade science score at 76.5%, with the lowest chronic absenteeism (3.6%) and the highest per-student spending ($16,014).

Emerson-Williams School has been remarkably stable, sitting at the 50th percentile for three straight years, while Charles Wright School, the smallest school at 235 students, posted solid ELA scores despite having the highest free/reduced lunch rate (35.74%) and some missing science data. Science is a district-wide bright spot, with most schools exceeding the state average of 52.9% by wide margins, but math is the relative weakness, as several grade-level scores dip below state averages. Notably, the two higher-poverty schools—Hanmer and Charles Wright—have the smallest class sizes, suggesting deliberate resource allocation toward greater need. Overall, parents should know that Wethersfield elementary schools offer strong attendance, solid science instruction, and meaningful variation in academic performance, with math being the district's biggest opportunity for improvement.